Audi's cheeky little TT sportster made headlines for all the wrong reasons when it first hit the autobahns in 1998 - but after some suspension and aerodynamic revisions to cure a potentially deadly high-speed stability problem, it proceeded to carve out a niche for itself and - without ever aspiring to the in-your-face muscle-car tactics of the RS series - quietly become a cult car.
Even TT fans are surprised to hear that production of Audi's smallest car has this year reached half a million units - but Ingolstadt reckons that's something worth celebrating.
Enter the Audi TTS Competition, a 200kW, limited-edition model. Just 500 will be made in both coupé and roadster format, starting from October, of which five, count them, five are allocated to Audio SA.
It will be available only in screaming yellow (remember the original RS4?) or an understated metallic grey, with a distinctive fixed rear wing mounted on matt aluminium-finish; the roadster's fabric top will be offered in either black or gray.
It runs on special 19” rims in a five-spoked 'Rotor' layout, shod with low-profile 225/35 radials.
GREY LEATHER
The Impulse interior leather trim package in steel grey uses distinctive leather bands - with their edges dyed yellow - as decorative elements, with yellow contrast stitching, set off by special aluminium badges embossed with “1 of 500” on the door trims.
A special leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel with a more strongly contoured rim than the 'normal' TTS and standard-issue rear parking sensors complete the specification - the rest is all as per the top-of-the-range Audi TTS.
That includes xenon plus headlights, magnetic ride damper control, aluminium inlays and a 200kW/380Nm, two-litre TFSI turbopetrol four, driving all four wheels through either a six-speed manual cogset or a six-speed S tronic auto transmission.
Audi quotes 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds, and an average 7.9 litres per 100km for the coupé with manual 'box, dropping to 5.3 seconds and 7.7 litres per 100km for the self-shifter.
The slightly heavier roadster needs 5.5 or 5.7 seconds (depending on the transmission) at a cost of 7.7 (or 7.9) litres per 100km.
Audi has pitched the limited-edition TTS Competition at €1900 (R25 000) more than the price of the standard TTS, wherever you happen to be in the Eurozone. Pricing for the five Competition models destined for South Africa in January 2014 will be complicated by the fact that the TTS is no longer offered here - Audi SA says it will work that out closer to the time.